desertrat77

I concur 100 percent with @RememberSchiff. If I may add, I believe the OP is also striving for a humorous tone. As we know, humor may or may not translate well in written communication. As RememberSchiff said, the scoutlike discussion that has followed is a better solution. PS I'm a rural scouter myself.

@ParkMan, well said. However, I'm doubtful that even a former governor or any highly accomplished leader could help the professional scouter corps in its present state. Individually, there are many great pros. Collectively, because the pro staff has become so insular and bureaucratic, they'll figure out a way to appear to be on board with the new direction, all the while keeping the status quo. I think a bigger broom is going to be needed to enact the changes you've recommended.

I agree, Pete. From what I know, the Philmont oversight committee is a plum assignment. So National decided to pawn Philmont for 450M. And not notify the committee. When the committee calls them out, National pushes back on the committee. Pushes back on the oversight committee. If National has this level of disdain for a hand-selected group of gold loop volunteers, it shows how little they think of folks working at the unit level.

What a mess. National advises struggling units to "sell more popcorn." When National struggles, they pawn Philmont. Without notifying the Philmont oversight committee. The Philmont oversight committee! I guess the committee didn't have a need to know. Remarkable business strategy.

...and if our units are struggling financially, National wants us to "sell more popcorn."

On the camping headquarters side, over 24K backpackers attended Philmont in 2019 (treks, Cavalcade, OA trail crew, Rayado, etc.). This was a record summer. I don't have good numbers for the Training Center side of the street (training, family adventure). From what I hear, sign ups were pretty sparse.

@RememberSchiff, my impression is "in part." I think National is cash-poor in just about every category....

From Ministrywatch.com: "The Boy Scouts Mortgage their 'Crown Jewel'" "According to documents obtained by MinistryWatch.com the Boy Scouts of America has mortgaged Philmont Scout Ranch, one of the BSA’s largest and most valuable properties. "The Boy Scouts filed the mortgage in Colfax County, New Mexico, where Philmont is located, on March 21, 2019. The filing was recorded on April 3, 2019. The document places a mortgage on the entire Philmont property – which covers more than 140,000 acres, or about 220 square miles – in northeastern New Mexico. The mortgage also includes “a

Fellow Scouters, the winner of the Scouter.com slogan contest is: @SteveMM! - @SteveMM: "Scouter.com - Uniting Scouters Worldwide" Runners up: - @mrkstvns: "Make Scouting Great Again" - @MattR: "The scouter's campfire. Pull up a stump and join us." On behalf of the Scouter.com moderator staff, thanks to all for your great submissions and participation! @RememberSchiff, @MattR, @John-in-KC,@desertrat77

I haven't seen either...the one I have from my scouting days was official BSA, made of heavy felt. Plenty of others were homemade and were considered acceptable for uniform wear.

Fairly common in the '70s, started dying out in the early '80s.

@5thGenTexan, I'm sorry to hear this. Sounds like the other scouters didn't respect your wishes. I certainly understand your desire to step back. As mentioned, I've persevered in situations like this "for the good of scouting" and in the long run it wasn't worth the effort and stress. Being in a rural area, is it safe to assume many of the other scouters are going to be in their respective positions for awhile?

Though it's been awhile since I was a cub (early 70s), I received very detailed, realistic substance prevention training in elementary school. It was provided by Department of Defense Schools as we were stationed in Panama. Our den also had a field trip to the Balboa Heights Police Department in the Canal Zone, where the detectives talked to us about drug abuse, arrests, and other consequences. They didn't dumb it down for us. It made quite an impact on me. I can still picture the detectives chatting informally with us in the squad room for about 30 minutes. No slides, no slogans

One of my previous councils. Napa Valley is wonderful

I agree. Summer camps have turned into MB mills, with many non-outdoor offerings. The scouts should be hiking, swimming, boating, and shooting. Either for the MB or just for the fun of it. Life is sedentary enough in 2019. Too many scouts sitting on picnic benches at summer camp these days.

If there is a nudge from National to discourage or at least tighten up MB fairs, I'd say this is the most positive news I've heard in awhile. There are acceptable group settings to earn MBs at summer camp. Historically, these used to be primarily outdoor focused (rifle/shotgun/lifesaving/etc.). Many units didn't access to properties or equipment during the course of the year, so it was standard practice at camp. The MB fairs I see today are grand events, more spoon feeding than actually learning. The scouts go through the process and leave Saturday evening with MBs that used to r

@eTimesSoy, welcome to scouter.com!

Seventy bucks is about what my daughter's yearbooks cost (each). Many students don't get them due to the cost.

Scouts that are active will find a way to show off those segments. The scout is clearly active in the program, which I think is the most important point.

@5thGenTexan, though it may look a bit odd, I hit the "thanks" button to show my gratitude and respect for all you're doing for scouting. As a rural scouter myself, I believe there are more leaders in circumstances similar to yours than the BSA recognizes. Especially in rural areas, where there are limited numbers of adults who could or should work with scouts. Often the rural leaders do double and triple duty, and must put up with long-term dysfunctional circumstances simply because there are no other options. This can be very draining on a number of levels. My recommendation i

I recently sat on three Tenderfoot boards of review. One girl and two boys. Very impressive scouts, these three. The highlight question was "what do you like best about scouting?" All three brightened and said "camping!" Each in their own way, they articulated what they like about their first camporee. They mentioned the good points and looked back on the low points with humor. Collectively couldn't wait to go camping again. To me, this is what the BSA is all about.

Granted, the arrow points were a pain. But as a Cub, I was most delighted with my Bobcat pin, and my Wolf and Bear patches. I enjoyed the activities that garnered the arrow points, but I didn't care about the arrow points themselves.

That's great!

From what I've seen, the adults are more committed to Cub "bling" than the Cubs. If the Cubs are on the move and learning cool things, they're happy.

At my second camporee, in 1975, live chickens were the key ingredient of the "mystery event" Saturday afternoon. Huge turnout at this camporee...I'd guess 30 SPLs had to make a horseshoe around the end of an enclosed truck. The rest of us scouts made a big horseshoe well behind the SPLs. The event (all timed): - There was a live chicken for each troop. Once released, en masse, the SPL had to grab a chicken and run with his troop (and the chicken) back to the troop campsite - Chicken killed, plucked/skinned/etc, cooked by the scouts in the campsite - SPL ran a mile or